Catherine watched her uncle's limp form on the bed. Though his finger had twitched, the steady beep of the machines stayed the same. She narrowed her eyes and squinted at his face, looking for signs of consciousness.

She remembered watching a TV show as a young girl with Maria. The villain on the show had pretended to slip into a coma. To prove he was faking it, the young heroine had stabbed a needle into his foot. The comatose man sat up in his bed and screamed. She looked around the room, hoping to see a sharp object, but there was nothing there.

​​

She stuck her hand into her small purse and rummaged around. At the bottom of the bag, her fingers brushed over a small leather pouch, the size of a coin purse. She smiled and pulled the pouch from her bag, pinching it open. A hair tie and several safety pins fell into her palm. Shoving the rest of the junk back in her bag, she opened a safety pin and marched toward Lawson.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Sean. There was a strange gleam in his eyes, but his face was unreadable. She couldn't tell if he was amused or if he disapproved. She gave him a defiant expression and turned back to her uncle.

She lifted his hand from the bed, disgusted by how clammy and damp his skin felt against her own. She grabbed his index finger and jabbed the safety pin into it as hard as she could. His body twitched, and his eyes flew open.

"Bloody hell," he cursed.

Catherine pulled the pin out of his finger with a sharp jerk and hid it behind her back. She smiled innocently at her uncle, "Wow, Uncle Lawson, what a coincidence! As soon as we came to visit you, you woke up. If I'd known that, I would have come much earlier."

Lawson ignored her, turning his jowly face toward Sean. "Mr. Blair," he said, his voice rough and dry. "I'm so glad you could come to see me."

The machines near the bedside began to beep louder, and a nurse poked her head into the room. She did a double-take to see Lawson awake.

"What a miracle," she said. "I'll have a doctor to examine him immediately."

"The doctor can wait," Sean said, his voice cold and firm.

"I'm sorry, sir," the nurse replied. "It's the hospital protocol."

"Hospital protocol can wait," Sean insisted. "And if the doctor has a problem with that, you can tell him Sean Blair told you."

The nurse's eyes widened, and she backed out of the room, shutting the door gently behind her. Catherine perched on the foot of the hospital bed, dangling her legs as if she was a carefree visitor.

"Don't act so casual, girl," Lawson scolded. "You know you put me in here. It's all because of you—"

"But now you're awake," Catherine said with another smile. "You heard the nurse—it's a miracle."

"A miracle you didn't kill me," Lawson said.

"I don't know, Uncle," she said. "You're not giving me much confidence in your health, I'm afraid. And Aunt Melanie told me that managing the company was destroying your blood pressure and making you sick. We can't have you making yourself so sick, now can we?"

"You can save your fake concern," Lawson said. "I'm fine now, and I'm ready to head back to work."

"Oh no, no, no," she said. "I'm sure the doctors will agree that's a terrible idea. Sean will send someone to manage things."

"I'm fine now," Lawson insisted. "We don't need to bother Mr. Blair with the operations of a little company. It's not worth his time."

Sean cleared his throat, "It's not worth my time? You painted a very different picture when you asked me to invest."

Lawson's face paled, and he looked desperately at the door to the room as if hoping someone would come to save him from the conversation.

"It's true," Catherine said. "Sean has invested a lot of money in the company now. It's important that someone competent takes over—I'd hate to see all that money go to waste, wouldn't you, uncle?"

Lawson spluttered something incoherent. Though his face was pale and sunken, his cheeks and forehead were slowly turning a livid red. The machines next to the bed beeped furiously as his anger took control.

"Careful, Uncle," Catherine warned. "Getting worked up isn't good for your health. Besides, you have a lot to manage. It's been three days since we last spoke—which means you have 12 days to get the 50 million you owe me. And then you've got the move, too."

"You bitch," Lawson hissed. "You're going to ruin me."

"You will never refer to my wife as a bitch again," Sean said, stalking toward the bed and leaning over Lawson. His large hand descended slowly, closing around Lawson's flabby neck. The machines next to the bed beeped wildly, and Lawson coughed and squirmed.

"Understood," he croaked.

"Wonderful," Catherine said. "I'm glad we've resolved this so easily, Uncle. Shall I call the nurse back to get you discharged?"

The door swung open, and Madison and Melanie rushed into the room. The women carried small paper cups of coffee, but they dropped them onto the floor and raced toward the bed. Melanie bent over her husband, planting loud kisses on his shiny face. Madison stood nearby, fluttering her hands nervously.

"Oh, my love, you're awake," Melanie said. "Has the doctor been to see you?"

Lawson shook his head.

"What a second rate hospital," Melanie fumed. "I'll have him in here in just a minute."

Sean cleared his throat, and Lawson's eyes widened.

"No doctors just yet," Lawson croaked.

Melanie's eyes narrowed, and she pursed her lips. She ignored Sean and glared at Catherine, "Haven't you done enough already?"

"Apparently not," she said. "But I'm getting tired of having this conversation with you people. As soon as Sean and I leave, you'll call the doctor and have Uncle discharged immediately. Then you'll go back to the house and get your things. You've been intruding on Maria's hospitality for too long, but the time has come. It's a moving day."

"You bitch," Madison shrieked. "He's practically on his deathbed, and you're trying to throw us out of our home!"

"That's enough," Sean said, his voice low but furious. "I know what you've done. I know how you've treated her. So do as she says, or you'll have me to deal with—and I can assure you, my methods are not nearly as gentle as hers."

"You didn't seem to have a problem with how we treated her when you made a deal with my husband," Melanie said.

Lawson's face paled, and he shook his head frantically at his wife, but his wife ignored him.

"You come in here and talk so mightily," Melanie continued. "As if you didn't buy her from—"

Something dangerous flashed in Sean's eyes, and Catherine shivered. Instinctively, she took a few steps away from him. Her aunt seemed to notice it too—she fell silent and looked down at her feet.

"You know what you have to do," Sean said. "Do it today."

"Yes," Lawson said, his voice shaking. "Yes, of course. Melanie, go get a nurse and start the paperwork to have me discharged."

"But—" Melanie objected.

"Do it," he shouted.

Catherine sighed. She had wanted to handle things on her own, but Sean had gotten involved. She watched as her aunt passed by them, skirting around Sean to keep as much distance between them as possible. No matter how she tried, she couldn't intimidate them the way he could. One word from him, and they all rushed to obey.

"Catherine, let's go," Sean said.

She followed him to the door, sidestepping the muddy brown puddles of coffee on the floor. She stopped at the door and turned to look at her uncle and Madison.

"Don't even think about taking anything that isn't yours out of the house," she said.

"We'll take what we bought," Madie sniffed.

"With my father's money?" Catherine asked. "No, take your clothing and personal items—but nothing else."

She left the room, following Sean down the long hallways. The bright fluorescent lights and the smell of disinfectant and stale food gave her a headache. When they finally stepped outside, she closed her eyes and took a breath of fresh air. She opened her eyes and found Sean watching her with a smile.

"Thank you," she said.

"If you want to win, you have to be smarter and stronger and crueler than the others," he said.

She smiled uncomfortably, "Why don't you go back home. I can call a taxi—I want to go to the house and make sure they don't take anything that isn't theirs."

"I'll send someone to handle it," Sean said as a valet pulled his sports car up to the front doors. "Get into the car."

Catherine hesitated and then gave in. She sat down in the low seat and buckled her seatbelt, and the valet shut the door behind her. Sean revved the engine and drove the car away from the hospital. In the rearview mirror, Catherine could see Madison standing in front of the hospital, grinding her teeth. She sighed.